NEW YORK — In his gripping new novel, John Finucane, a retired NYC Fire Department lieutenant, draws on his real life experiences while chronicling New York’s best kept secret in a dramatic tale of slumlords hiring arson-for-profit gangs to level the South Bronx in the turbulent late 1960s and 1970s. All of which happened while the city’s politicians turned a blind eye to the murderous results.
When the Bronx Burned, is a historical novel that follows New York’s bravest as they fight flames, arsonists and politicians; helping to save a community and in the process, risking their own lives. Filled with conflict, action, political corruption, and victims and villains straight from history, When The Bronx Burned is based on the author’s years of duty with Engine 85 at 167th Street & Intervale Avenue from 1967 to 1971, and Ladder 59 at the Bronx Tin House at 169th Street & Boston Road from 1971 to 1976.
Set in the 1960s, Jackie Mulligan and his brother firefighters stand up to the unscrupulous landlords and their torch men who set in motion a murderous wave of arson driving hundreds of thousands of people from their apartments and injuring, maiming, and killing thousands more – including firefighters. When New York City’s mayor consistently refuses to give the fire department the manpower it needs to investigate the arson, and thousands of suspicious fires go uninvestigated, Mulligan and his men take a stand against the arsonists, putting their jobs – and their lives – on the line.
When the Bronx Burned is a gripping and heart-wrenching dramatization of a true-life ten year dirty secret, recounting a period that saw one of New York’s most colossal failures in urban planning resulting in widespread greed, desperation and destruction. John Finucane shares an insider’s view that pulls no punches when laying praise – and placing blame – for one of the most heroic and harrowing periods in New York City firefighting history.
About the Author
The son of Irish immigrants, John Finucane was born and raised in New York’s infamous South Bronx. After serving as a paratrooper in the 1/503rd Airborne Battle Group of the 82nd Airborne Division, John began his career as a firefighter. For more than two decades he fought fires in some of the toughest ghetto neighborhoods in NYC. His personal experience working in two of the busiest fire companies (Engine 85 and Ladder 59) in the South Bronx was the inspiration for When the Bronx Burned.
A retired lieutenant, John is a member of FDNY’s Honor Legion, and he served proudly at Ground Zero doing recovery work for the victims. He is the founder and former chairperson of the “Advocates for a 9-11 Fallen Heroes Memorial” (http://www.911fallenheroes.org/). In addition to serving on the board of the FDNY Emerald Society for over 25-years, Finucane also published the American Irish Newsletter, and served as president of the American Irish Political Education Committee.
The father of three children, John, Brian and Stephanie, Finucane currently resides with his wife Margaret in Yonkers, NY.